Good eats Beer show

[Todd]

Yuri,

Why 30 min at 122 degree?

Todd

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Yuri,

Why 30 min at 122 degree?

Todd

Oops, haven't read this one in a while. Late reply...
Was an attempt at a protein rest prior to saccharification. This is my first AG recipe, so I could have something screwed up. Haven't brewed this yet...I'm scaling it up to 15 gallons...brew equipment is on the way via UPS and FedEx!

 

[Carne de Perro]

It's the thread that wouldn't die!!!

As a disclaimer I am an avid Alton Brown fan, that being said...

I've noticed that Alton Brown's shows try to balance both the thrill of cooking with the more technical aspects of the craft. His science is pretty spot on (pick up a copy of "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen" by Harold McGee for factchecking.) but when it comes to technique, he often will cut corners if it simplifies the process without sacrificing too much of the end result. Did he cut corners in the beer show. Yes, without question. Now look at the show from an outside point of view. If Alton had started rattling off temperatures, times, alpha acid content, and started breaking out more kitchenware than he already did than few people who saw the show would be inclined to give the hobby a shot. Yeah, there's better ways to do it, but you'll still be making beer, and the stuff won't be bad either. I see the show as a starting point, a way to learn how to crawl before walking. And I'd be hard pressed to find a better show on how to brew in less than 30 minutes. Peace, It's bottling time!

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

It's the thread that wouldn't die!!!

As a disclaimer I am an avid Alton Brown fan, that being said...

I've noticed that Alton Brown's shows try to balance both the thrill of cooking with the more technical aspects of the craft. His science is pretty spot on (pick up a copy of "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen" by Harold McGee for factchecking.) but when it comes to technique, he often will cut corners if it simplifies the process without sacrificing too much of the end result. Did he cut corners in the beer show. Yes, without question. Now look at the show from an outside point of view. If Alton had started rattling off temperatures, times, alpha acid content, and started breaking out more kitchenware than he already did than few people who saw the show would be inclined to give the hobby a shot. Yeah, there's better ways to do it, but you'll still be making beer, and the stuff won't be bad either. I see the show as a starting point, a way to learn how to crawl before walking. And I'd be hard pressed to find a better show on how to brew in less than 30 minutes. Peace, It's bottling time!

I think everyone here would agree to that statement, and I too am a huge AB fan. However, instead of just cutting a few corners, he actually made some bad brewing mistakes, like boiling the grain and using bagged ice. I boiled a few grains once before I knew any better and the beer had a srtong astringency to it, and as for the ice, he's opening himself up to huge contamination issues. Granted, I haven't tried his beer and don't know how many infection problems he's had if any, but those mistakes can't be overlooked. That show was partially responible for getting me into brewing with it's 'I can do that?' factor, that and the judge said I can't go into any liquor stores for two more years...

Welcome to the board BTW

 

[Carne de Perro]

Out of curiousity, I know you shouldn't boil the grains, but how is this different from a decoction mash? Either way your'e extracting tannins...right?

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

This has puzzled me as well. The best I have been able to find out about it is that decoctions do extract a few tannins but not a lot because of the pH. Not exactly sure on the specifics, but it's the pH that makes difference.
Hopefully Kaiser or BvBG will chime in here.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

From this link:

One common and very good question about decoction mashing is this : if I'm not under any circumstances supposed to boil grains when brewing because of tannin extraction, why is this not a problem with decoction mashing. The answer is that when you pull a decoction, you pull as little liquid as possible to boil - you are taking mainly grains. Somehow this extremely thick mash seems to protect against the extraction of tannins.

I couldn't find much otherwise. I did find a little blurb on another page that mentioned that decoction mashes will typically require longer lagering. It mentioned a bit of tannin extraction as a befefit because of added flavor complexity, but it takes a longer aging period to achieve a balanced taste.

How about you more experienced AG-ers? What have you found?

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Well, for thick decoctions that works, but you also pull thin decoctions which are mostly liquid.

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Aha!


The answers... sort of.

 

[Carne de Perro]

So either the tannin extraction level is low enough to be desirable or the tannins extracted are the "good" kind. I don't know if there's different kinds of tannins but I'd be willing to guess that there are. Thanks for the research, shoulda know to check the Wizard...